- 著者
-
小川 功
- 出版者
- 滋賀大学経済学会
- 雑誌
- 彦根論叢 (ISSN:03875989)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- no.381, pp.57-77[含 英語文要旨], 2009-11
Examined in this paper are two land companies founded by Jihei Tadaabusinessperson who came back to Japan after making a fortune on theKorean Peninsula-in an attempt to simultaneously turn the beach andmountain areas in Beppu, in the central part of Oita Prefecture on KyushuIsland, into a tourist destination. Beppu Land and Trust Company wasestablished in October 1918 with the aim of reclaiming 82,500 square meters of land from the sea and utilizing the area for residential purposes,for example accommodating tourists. The objective of founding BeppuKankaiji Land Company in February 1920 was to build dream houseswith spas and gardens filled with cherry and Japanese maple trees arounda hot spring resort on a mountainside. Both companies are products of amania for speculation in the midst of the bubble economy of the Taisho Era. Most capitalists who took part in the aforementioned undertakingsas founders or major shareholders including president Yahei Ueda of thelatter company and director Tamezo Takakura were hit hard by an economic depression. Both companies' land management, such as that forbuilding homes for sale and renting homes, faced problems due to the recession.A run on the former Oita Bank, a local financial institutiondeeply involved with the business of Beppu Kankaiji Land Company, also exerted a negative impact. The speculative nature of these two companieswas supposedly reflected in financial difficulties of banks connectedto capitalists who had invested in the companies. Many suchbanks, like the Nihon Sekizen Bank, were forced to face a run, go bankruptor suspend business operations. This report will focus on collective investment behavior of capitalists related to Kashima Bank or Daido LifeInsurance Company, both of which were run by the Hirooka family,which owned land in a cultural village in the mountain area. An analysisof shareholder groups formed in major cities right after the inception of the Beppu Kankaiji Land Company will be introduced.